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Damn, looks like i won't be able to register both Almada and Markovic at least till the third season.. Because i forgot to mention as well that i did sign Wilfred Bony (Ivory Coast) in my first season January window for free and now he counts as one of the Non EU players during the second season despite the fact that he's out on loan in Korea. Damn Italy why you gotta make this **** so complicated smh..

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Decent start to the season with Roma, started off at home to Milan and finished as a 1-1 draw, Dzeko getting the goal for me and Suso with the equaliser for Milan late on. 2nd game was away at Empoli, went 1-0 down after only 2 minutes but managed to rally and secure a 3-1 win.

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Parma is my favourite Italian team. Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Nakata, Crespo, Veron.. Grew up watching so many great players and the club has seen better times then. First transfer window off, so will have to get to know the players before the January window. Decided to give Brazao the starting spot because I want to create another Buffon-like legacy for the club. Kucka unfortunately got injured in preseason and went on to miss lots of the season due niggling injuries. He would have been a starter. But his absence opened up the chance for me to trust Stulac as the main player in midfield and it was one of my best decision yet.

Youth players of interest - Apart from Brazao, I'm looking to involve Botturi and Hiekkanen in and around the first team squad this season. Hoping to have the 3 of them as Home Grown Club players in 3 years time. Diakhate will be a squad player and he will feature frequently.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Barilla

Sprocati, Gervinho

Inglese

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

Only given £1m budget if I remember correctly. Decided to go after Xadas as I liked a left footer in that left winger position and as a replacement for Gervinho next season. Coetzee will get the non-EU spot from Gervinho next season. Tried raising some cash by selling some players who is running out of contract. Surprised that I got any money at all, to be honest. In previous FM, they would just get them on a Bosman instead. Pereira added much needed quality from midfield, loaned until end of next season. As a reflective note, the reason I went for Coetzee was because of the price and I had expected to be fighting for middle of the table/top half only this season and the next. I also made a few Bosman signings in this window and later on. In my next post for the 2nd season, I will indicate what I would do otherwise if I had known what the end result would be like.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Pereira

Sprocati, Xadas

Inglese

Bastoni started to play more as well after coming back from injuries, replacing Bruno Alves or pushing Gagliolo to left back. Not a fan of Di Marco, he only get minimal minutes. Brazao was called up for South American u20 Championship, so he was missing for a bit. Sepe came in and did quite well.

END OF SEASON AWARDS

Parma

Serie A

End of Season Review and Thoughts

As the league positions chart shown above indicated, I overachieved. This surprised me too much. Part of the reason was the top 4 kept losing to each other and those below them, bringing those in the top half of the table closer and closer each time. In fact, a few games towards the end, I was level on point or a couple of points behind Napoli. Only for me to drew all my games in May. Nerves and inexperience played a part, and also I think I lost 3 of my midfielders to injuries as well.

Overall, better than expected, better than I could have wished for. Stulac was amazing for me, scoring important goals. His free kicks saved me in some of the games. He got 3 Goal of The Months as well. But the signing of Pereira helped to push us into the Champions League spot. I didn't expect to be in this position and some of my transfer decisions in January reflected this. Had try to renew Bastoni and Inglese on loans, to join Pereira next season. But Inter and Napoli said they wanted to try them for their first team next season.. Added more Bosman transfers because of this just after January.

KEY PLAYERS

Brazao (got into Serie A team of the season), Gagliolo (best defender for me this season), Stulac (player of the season), Inglese (reliant on his goals)

FUTURE PLANS

Are we ready for the Champions League? Will update the 2nd season later today.

Below are my only promising youth intake (I didn't take a group screenshot for all of them).

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

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So, looking for a new challenge I decided to start a game in Serie A with Fiorentina. A nice team from a beautiful city, aiming to stay in top half of the table and trying to get into the European competitions, but struggling very much in real life (finished 16th this year, fighting off relegation). A team with some young potential, but not very much of squad depth.

Not knowing the quad very well, I decided against selling anyone and gave my scouts orders to look for hot prospects. My long term goal is to close the financial gap with the top teams in Italy, for which two things are important: selling players on with (high) profit margins and playing in European competitions. So in the first year, I only bought two youngsters.

As for tactics, I tried playing posession, not conceding much changes and hoping that mainly Chiesa and Luis Muriel could give us a goal at the other end. When playing against better opposition we tried to play on the counter, quickly transitioning the ball forward into space. Big surprises where the defenders, especially Pezzella and Milenkovic, who really gave us a rock solid base to build from. In midfield Veretout and Edimilson also held their own quite well. As you can see below, we finished 3rd in the table, a long way behind the leaders, but better than I'd expected when starting this challenge.

And the icing on the cake was our success in the Cup: after managing to defeat Napoli on penalties in the quarter finals after keeping them to a 0-0 score, we had an easy semi against Atalanta setting up a final with Inter Milan. By setting up a defensive counter tactic, we totally destroyed them, winning 3-0 and making sure we got silverware in my first season in charge!

Now at the end of the season, I see that a load of loans are over, and a lot of teams are interested in my best players. So it's going to be an interesting summer.

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Parma is my favourite Italian team. Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Nakata, Crespo, Veron.. Grew up watching so many great players and the club has seen better times then. First transfer window off, so will have to get to know the players before the January window. Decided to give Brazao the starting spot because I want to create another Buffon-like legacy for the club. Kucka unfortunately got injured in preseason and went on to miss lots of the season due niggling injuries. He would have been a starter. But his absence opened up the chance for me to trust Stulac as the main player in midfield and it was one of my best decision yet.

Youth players of interest - Apart from Brazao, I'm looking to involve Botturi and Hiekkanen in and around the first team squad this season. Hoping to have the 3 of them as Home Grown Club players in 3 years time. Diakhate will be a squad player and he will feature frequently.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Barilla

Sprocati, Gervinho

Inglese

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

Only given £1m budget if I remember correctly. Decided to go after Xadas as I liked a left footer in that left winger position and as a replacement for Gervinho next season. Coetzee will get the non-EU spot from Gervinho next season. Tried raising some cash by selling some players who is running out of contract. Surprised that I got any money at all, to be honest. In previous FM, they would just get them on a Bosman instead. Pereira added much needed quality from midfield, loaned until end of next season. As a reflective note, the reason I went for Coetzee was because of the price and I had expected to be fighting for middle of the table/top half only this season and the next. I also made a few Bosman signings in this window and later on. In my next post for the 2nd season, I will indicate what I would do otherwise if I had known what the end result would be like.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Pereira

Sprocati, Xadas

Inglese

Bastoni started to play more as well after coming back from injuries, replacing Bruno Alves or pushing Gagliolo to left back. Not a fan of Di Marco, he only get minimal minutes. Brazao was called up for South American u20 Championship, so he was missing for a bit. Sepe came in and did quite well.

END OF SEASON AWARDS

Parma

Serie A

End of Season Review and Thoughts

As the league positions chart shown above indicated, I overachieved. This surprised me too much. Part of the reason was the top 4 kept losing to each other and those below them, bringing those in the top half of the table closer and closer each time. In fact, a few games towards the end, I was level on point or a couple of points behind Napoli. Only for me to drew all my games in May. Nerves and inexperience played a part, and also I think I lost 3 of my midfielders to injuries as well.

Overall, better than expected, better than I could have wished for. Stulac was amazing for me, scoring important goals. His free kicks saved me in some of the games. He got 3 Goal of The Months as well. But the signing of Pereira helped to push us into the Champions League spot. I didn't expect to be in this position and some of my transfer decisions in January reflected this. Had try to renew Bastoni and Inglese on loans, to join Pereira next season. But Inter and Napoli said they wanted to try them for their first team next season.. Added more Bosman transfers because of this just after January.

KEY PLAYERS

Brazao (got into Serie A team of the season), Gagliolo (best defender for me this season), Stulac (player of the season), Inglese (reliant on his goals)

FUTURE PLANS

Are we ready for the Champions League? Will update the 2nd season later today.

Below are my only promising youth intake (I didn't take a group screenshot for all of them).

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Smashing job there finishing third with Parma in the first season! Any chance you could share your tactic?

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Parma is my favourite Italian team. Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Nakata, Crespo, Veron.. Grew up watching so many great players and the club has seen better times then. First transfer window off, so will have to get to know the players before the January window. Decided to give Brazao the starting spot because I want to create another Buffon-like legacy for the club. Kucka unfortunately got injured in preseason and went on to miss lots of the season due niggling injuries. He would have been a starter. But his absence opened up the chance for me to trust Stulac as the main player in midfield and it was one of my best decision yet.

Youth players of interest - Apart from Brazao, I'm looking to involve Botturi and Hiekkanen in and around the first team squad this season. Hoping to have the 3 of them as Home Grown Club players in 3 years time. Diakhate will be a squad player and he will feature frequently.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Barilla

Sprocati, Gervinho

Inglese

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

Only given £1m budget if I remember correctly. Decided to go after Xadas as I liked a left footer in that left winger position and as a replacement for Gervinho next season. Coetzee will get the non-EU spot from Gervinho next season. Tried raising some cash by selling some players who is running out of contract. Surprised that I got any money at all, to be honest. In previous FM, they would just get them on a Bosman instead. Pereira added much needed quality from midfield, loaned until end of next season. As a reflective note, the reason I went for Coetzee was because of the price and I had expected to be fighting for middle of the table/top half only this season and the next. I also made a few Bosman signings in this window and later on. In my next post for the 2nd season, I will indicate what I would do otherwise if I had known what the end result would be like.

My First XI

Brazao

Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo, Gobbi

Rigoni

Stulac, Pereira

Sprocati, Xadas

Inglese

Bastoni started to play more as well after coming back from injuries, replacing Bruno Alves or pushing Gagliolo to left back. Not a fan of Di Marco, he only get minimal minutes. Brazao was called up for South American u20 Championship, so he was missing for a bit. Sepe came in and did quite well.

END OF SEASON AWARDS

Parma

Serie A

End of Season Review and Thoughts

As the league positions chart shown above indicated, I overachieved. This surprised me too much. Part of the reason was the top 4 kept losing to each other and those below them, bringing those in the top half of the table closer and closer each time. In fact, a few games towards the end, I was level on point or a couple of points behind Napoli. Only for me to drew all my games in May. Nerves and inexperience played a part, and also I think I lost 3 of my midfielders to injuries as well.

Overall, better than expected, better than I could have wished for. Stulac was amazing for me, scoring important goals. His free kicks saved me in some of the games. He got 3 Goal of The Months as well. But the signing of Pereira helped to push us into the Champions League spot. I didn't expect to be in this position and some of my transfer decisions in January reflected this. Had try to renew Bastoni and Inglese on loans, to join Pereira next season. But Inter and Napoli said they wanted to try them for their first team next season.. Added more Bosman transfers because of this just after January.

KEY PLAYERS

Brazao (got into Serie A team of the season), Gagliolo (best defender for me this season), Stulac (player of the season), Inglese (reliant on his goals)

FUTURE PLANS

Are we ready for the Champions League? Will update the 2nd season later today.

Below are my only promising youth intake (I didn't take a group screenshot for all of them).

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Superb season And finishing above Juventus Looking forward to next season update

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So, looking for a new challenge I decided to start a game in Serie A with Fiorentina. A nice team from a beautiful city, aiming to stay in top half of the table and trying to get into the European competitions, but struggling very much in real life (finished 16th this year, fighting off relegation). A team with some young potential, but not very much of squad depth.

Not knowing the quad very well, I decided against selling anyone and gave my scouts orders to look for hot prospects. My long term goal is to close the financial gap with the top teams in Italy, for which two things are important: selling players on with (high) profit margins and playing in European competitions. So in the first year, I only bought two youngsters.

As for tactics, I tried playing posession, not conceding much changes and hoping that mainly Chiesa and Luis Muriel could give us a goal at the other end. When playing against better opposition we tried to play on the counter, quickly transitioning the ball forward into space. Big surprises where the defenders, especially Pezzella and Milenkovic, who really gave us a rock solid base to build from. In midfield Veretout and Edimilson also held their own quite well. As you can see below, we finished 3rd in the table, a long way behind the leaders, but better than I'd expected when starting this challenge.

And the icing on the cake was our success in the Cup: after managing to defeat Napoli on penalties in the quarter finals after keeping them to a 0-0 score, we had an easy semi against Atalanta setting up a final with Inter Milan. By setting up a defensive counter tactic, we totally destroyed them, winning 3-0 and making sure we got silverware in my first season in charge!

Now at the end of the season, I see that a load of loans are over, and a lot of teams are interested in my best players. So it's going to be an interesting summer.

Fantastic season for you Congrats on winning the cup Will be hard to keep your players especially Chiesa.

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Some shocking news during the summer, Bruno Alves and Gobbi both announcing their retirements, in November.. Bruno Alves was still in my plans, whilst Gobbi was to provide cover. They were Captain and Vice Captain, so will be missed. That means, new captains were needed. I chose Stulac as my captain and Zeca as my vice captain. Not many options due to the age of some of my players and the number of loan players as well in the starting lineup.

Coetzee will now replaced Alves, was planning to slowly introduce him to the first team. Without Gobbi, I don't have a first choice LB, so I may have to start Gagliolo more in that position. Inglese's goals will be important again (extended his loan).

Transfers IN

Now I mentioned that I made some Bosman signings without knowing that I will be playing CL football. This caused me problems as it overloaded my squad with players I was expecting to use to fight against relegation/middle of the table/top half of the table, but not for European games. Sprocati was a pre-arranged transfer before the game started, I'm happy he's coming back as he contributed a lot to our attacking play. Would I sign him personally? Maybe not but since he's here and had a great last season, I will be hoping for him to keep up his good form.

Out of the 7 Bosman signings, 2 were for the futre and will go to the u20s (Ercolani and Johansson). Out of the other 5, I had initially plan to use Monte as rotation option to Bruno Alves (he was labelled as the next Bruno Alves) but he came to Parma injured, so Coetzee pushed ahead of him straight away. Krajnc was to replace Bastoni, since I couldn't get him back on loan at this time, as another option for left sided CB alongside Gagliolo. Piazon was signed with the idea he will challenged Xadas for the LW position, as I was toying with the idea of using Xadas in CM or changing my tactic by including an AM. Leo Suarez and Kleber were signed as squad players, backup in their positions. Lots of players, right? Not yet done..

.

Now, the above signings were made before the summer, before I knew I was in a strong chance to finish in European position, before the reality of Parma qualifying for the CL.. Below was what I used with the new budget I got (I forgot how much it was, didn't screenshot it).

I forgot how I got Da Graca to come as cheaply as this, but I think I was just randomly bidding for him after I saw a scout report with that estimated value for transfer. Initially I had no plan to buy Tonali as he is too popular of a signing in this FM, but when I saw that he was bid on, I just tried to match the bid and it was accepted. Birindelli and Lucas Ribeiro were recommended by my scouts, never heard of them before but I liked what I see for the prices given. Birindelli was to provide cover for RB, whilst Ribeiro will provide cover to Coetzee since Monte was injured. Bought Nandez as I wanted a combative presence in midfield, hoping he can be the next Lucas Torreira. En Nesyri was to challenge Ingles up front, and on both wings. I have high hope for him. Signed Mauri as he was HGC for Parma, to provide cover to Stulac. I got Valery on a 2-years loan after he scored that wonder goal against Man Utd in real life (My first 2 seasons were a while back) and he will be the new first choice RB for me. My scout recommended me Zeca for the LB position, and decided to splash the cash as I never had a CWB before. Gagliolo can now go back to center.. that is until Bastoni was made available on loan again late in the window. This time he agreed to come back for 2 more seasons (with 0% wages too since Inter is affiliated with Parma). Starting to see where my overloading problems came from? I bid to loan for Lo Celso without expecting him to accept but he agreed to join. One more player then. Chao, Fojticek, Justiniano, and Kovar were other signing for the u20s. With all these signings, some of the Bosman signings were pushed down the pecking order. I can already see I would have problems giving all of them sufficient minutes.

Transfers OUT

Kucka had to be sold due to his niggling injuries and my highest earner (£40k p/w). Gervinho sold abroad to make space for Coetzee. Wanted to keep Barilla but will all my new signings, I wouldn't have space for him. So had to move him on as he's 30+. Iacoponi was my starter last season but his form deteriorated badly. Dezi was a flexible squad player but had to sell him as well. Others were players returning from loan and no space for them in the squad or over 20s players not having a future at the club. £27m in, £29m out.

Youth players of interest

Brazao established himself as my number 1, Diakhate was a good rotation option but still couldn't figured out his best position or role. Botturi played 5 games last season and Hiekkanen played 9 games, will be hoping for them to push on more. Alessandro Minelli returned from loan and will have a place as a future squad player at LB. Cristian Casarini in the u18s is progressing well and will look to develop him as well. Nico Schiappacase wanted to cancel his loan (he's already here before I arrived, from Atletico Madrid for 2 seasons loan) but I decided I wanted to use him more as an option off the bench.

My First XI

Brazao

Valery, Coetzee/Ribeiro, Bastoni/Gagliolo, Zeca/Gagliolo

Tonali/Nandez

Stulac/Mauri, Pereira/Lo Celso

Sprocati, Xadas/Piazon

Inglese/En-Nesyri

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

Spalek had been tearing Serie B and my scouts repeatedly recommended him. Planned to use him to challenge Sprocati. Found Guga who is similar Zeca, decided I wanted to mirror him for the RB position as Birindelli was not yet ready to challenge Valery.

My First XI

Brazao

Valery/Guga, Coetzee/Ribeiro, Bastoni/Gagliolo, Zeca/Gagliolo

Tonali/Nandez

Stulac/Mauri, Pereira/Lo Celso

Sprocati/Spalek, Xadas/Piazon

Inglese/En-Nesyri

As expected, some players barely played. Had to do heavy rotation, more than I would like. Tried to offer out on loan but no interests. Some players were affected by the non-continuity in their minutes like Piazon and Nandez. Everytime I gave them a chance, they didn't impress. One player who didn't lack any minutes was Lo Celso, but unlike Pereira, he didn't performed anywhere near his ability should. Though whilst Pereira was scoring goals, I found that he doesn't really make the team play better. Lessons learned. Always take off "cannot end loan" and Bosman signings should wait until the end of the season. If I remembered correctly, at this stage, Bastoni, Stulac, Sprocati, Xadas, Inglese were the best performers.

END OF SEASON AWARDS 2019/2020

Parma

Serie A

End of Season Review and Thoughts

Whereas in the first season we overachieved, in the 2nd season was a bit of a jumbled mess. The transfers situation and overloading of players played a huge factor in the inconsistent season. We didn't confirmed our Europa spot until the last game. What could have been a season of progression turned out to be taking a step back kind of season. On the other hand, I feel this is still our level. Even getting the Europa spot was a challenge. Must be a reason why I chose 'finishing in the top half' as my expectation earlier in the season. But I feel we will be stronger because of the experience this season.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2019/2020

Taught a lesson by PSG and Shakhtar in the first 2 games, showing our level. The home draw against PSG was a great game. Not a rearguard action, but actually creating chances to score as well. PSG was missing Neymar, I think. Part of the reason why I loved Stulac, that 93rd goal to put use through to the next round. A captain's performance. Liverpool was and still is the scariest team I had played against. The speed and the way they attack my defence was unbelievable. Even in the away leg I was expecting a hammering as they went 2-0 up in the first 28 minutes. They got complacent, I think, with progression secured. It was a great experience, a competition we want to go back into as soon as we can.

In hindsight, can't be too critical. I learned a lot about the game this season. Better planning and managing expectations to reflect that is key. Lucas Ribeiro overtook Coetzee towards the end with strong performances, Bastoni also grew stronger as the season went on. Whilst Pereira got more goals than Stulac, Stulac made the team play better and provided more assists as well. The reason his average rating is lower was I had to play him the DM position in some games to accommodate both Lo Celso and Pereira together in midfield. Inglese was the best performer this season. I was happy with the addition of Spalek, he added a different threat when he joined the team, and some of his goals were importat as well. Below are comparisons of their performance in 2019/2020 vs 2018/2019 (which I didn't include previously).

KEY PLAYERS

Brazao (getting better and better, so comfortable on the ball), Ribeiro (best defender for me this season and great signing for £1.2m), Stulac (captain performances in lots of games), Inglese (still reliant on his goals)

FUTURE PLANS

Lucky to be even in the Europa League next season, but signings will be made to be better prepare for it. First, I need to moved on ALL the players that are not in my plans. So, signings might depend on how well I can do that. Hoping to reduce the players used next season (37 this season) and wanted better players registration planning this time.

Lo Celso will be in his 2nd loan season with us but I'm not planning to use him much. Bastoni will also be back for the 2nd of his loan season (3rd season in a row) and he will hopefully be the leader of my defence. Not sure how I could afford to sign him permanently, though. Pereira is going back to Man Utd, and at this time I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue offering to loan him again. Inglese also going back to Napoli and my offer to extend was rejected as they planned to use him in their first team.

Better youth intakes this year. Should have arranged the list by PAs. As of now, I'm in November of my 3rd season. During the summer, Juventus offered £12m+ for Carriero, whilst Milan offered £10m+ for Pandini. Both are duly rejected. If you noticed, lots of my signings are not local so far. This is because I'm planning to use my youth players to provide the Italian backbone down the line. (Lots of the quality Italian players are expensive as well for Parma). Zanioli from my previous intake will play for the u20s next season.

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Will post the next update when I got to the Winter Transfer Window in my 3rd season, 2020/2021.

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Well, it's about time for my annual Fiorentina save. This year I'm going to try to keep something of an Italian bias, perhaps eventually working towards an early 90's squad where we only have 3 non-Italians (but potentially a few partially-Italian South Americans) in the team. But for now the long-term goal is to win the Champions League, something I've done in the first season on two saves this year (Manchester United, Lyon) and once in the 2nd season (Ajax, not with my own tactic but rather copying herne79's tiki-taka tactic from the thread. The amount of people asking me how to do that copying suggests that its still a challenge I should be proud of completing ), so it'll just be the case of assembling the best squad I can. Ideally we'll win it before Juve manage to, although that's most likely going to be due to the strength of English, German and Spanish clubs rather than anything we do as this is by far the weakest squad I've managed this year

My laptop isn't great (Apple described it as "vintage" when I took it in for repairs), so I'm only loading the top divisions from recommended nations plus the full Italian pyramid given I want to sign a bunch of Italians (in particular I'm hoping to finally try out this Tonali guy everyone goes on about, my usual domestic biases mean I haven't yet had the opportunity). No first window transfer budgets as all the loans in and out means I don't know how I'll want my squad to look a season from now.

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@john1 I've been sorely tempted to really 'bandwagon' it and do a Torino save, but no amount of history can get over the fact that I just don't like their colours. Its why I was frustrated when my Sampdoria save didn't stick, they have such great kits. So back to the Viola it is!

Seeing Torino above Juventus is always fun, unlucky on the unbeaten season though.

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@john1 I've been sorely tempted to really 'bandwagon' it and do a Torino save, but no amount of history can get over the fact that I just don't like their colours. Its why I was frustrated when my Sampdoria save didn't stick, they have such great kits. So back to the Viola it is!

Seeing Torino above Juventus is always fun, unlucky on the unbeaten season though.

I almost went for Sampdoria, purely of their lush kits They was also my first FM19 save.

No PIs for now, but I always customise my CB roles to their ideal ones hence Vitor Hugo as CD-Co rather than De. From a previous tactic this year I know using MEZ-Su is great to help encourage overloads on that flank, combined with the AP at AML drawing the ball and the FB overlapping, we should get some nice build-up before releasing Chiesa. None of my four first-team loanees (Edimilson Fernandes, Gérson, Kevin Mirallas, Marko Pjaca) make it into my ideal starting XI as I want to boost the value of the players I own, and the only one of those four on whom I have an option if Fernandes, the one I'd be least likely to utilise. Milenkovic will obviously end up at CD eventually, but right now we're only in the league and cup and I need to give him game time and also want to rotate in Ceccherini at CD, so out he goes to the right to be the more defensive full back behind our more offensive flank of W-At and BBM. The DLF role is chosen as hopefully if he does get on the ball the Take More Risks instruction will lead him to play it out to Chiesa, and I don't want another At duty up front as he'll be too isolated.

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As usual, I've vastly overhauled my backroom staff with 29 people coming and 7 leaving, the latter mostly those with Pioli as favoured personnel as I think that's realistic. I'm not going to list them all, but just show off a couple of highlights:

Vincenzo Vergine, HoYD at the start of the game is certainly one of the better ones around. Good personality, JPA/JPP and actually one of the best coaches in the game to boot. His preferred formation is a good one too. So, why on Earth would I replace him?

A triple Champions League winner, Model Citizen, with a good preferred formation and still one of the better coaches in the game, that's why!

The Director of Football role is mostly ceremonial for me, I let them do new signing press conferences and that's about it. So if I can swap out some random Portuguese dude for Batigol himself, scorer of over 200 goals for Fiorentina and one of the greatest strikers to walk the Earth you better believe I'm doing it! I'm also letting him manage friendlies as the fans will love that.

Instead I let Paratici manage all the scouting (as happens in real life for Juve) and I always let the last word to him. If my scouts find a player (I never scout manually at first to make the game harder) that I think too he's interesting, I ask Paratici to check him and only if he approves I'll make an offer

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Instead I let Paratici manage all the scouting (as happens in real life for Juve) and I always let the last word to him. If my scouts find a player (I never scout manually at first to make the game harder) that I think too he's interesting, I ask Paratici to check him and only if he approves I'll make an offer

Well he looks incredible, so I don't blame you!

On my Freiburg save the first couple of seasons I let my DoF run scouting and handle scouting meetings, set so we'd have a meeting every 10 reports, and only shortlisted the highest recommendations, but I found it too restricting. FM18 I had a save where my DoF was in charge of contracts too. I've often considered picking a team with a DoF and letting him completely control transfers and contracts but I'd just lose interest. If I can get in Rui Costa at some point I might defer a little more responsibility to him, but Batistuta is purely a fan-pleasing hire.

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So I've definitely sabotaged myself somewhat - to create overloads you compress space on one side, luring everyone over to create acres of it on the other side then switch the ball. But because Fiorentina aren't in continental competitions we get pitch size options...so I went for 120x90m without thinking, when if anything I should have gone smaller. I may have to use a 442 at home to take advantage of all the space, because right now we're better away from home.

Still...occasionally the overloads work perfectly!

Here we have some deep possession from my two CBs (Play Out Of Defence) leading to it being played out to my AP PJaca, who plays it forward to the overlapping full back Hancko, a couple of passes in the midfield involving the BBM, MEZ and DLF, before Pjaca again plays it forward to Hancko who crosse sit for Chiesa to come in wide open and finish!

I would have uploaded video but YouTube upload for Mac didn't work for years, I haven't even bothered trying on FM19.

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Onwards to my second season with Fiorentina. Great to see @zlatanera also playing with La Viola. Exciting to see how s/he approaches things.

In the summer we had - of course - an overhaul at the club. A lot of loanees returning to parent clubs and interest from major (richer) clubs for my star players. In the end, Milenkovic moved to ManUtd for 73M euros and Veretout to Huddersfield of all places for 33-39M depending on some clauses. I had accepted a huge bid for Chiesa also, but he rejected Tottenham and opted to stay with me! This funded my buying spree to find enough players to fill all the gaps and have enough depth to deal with playing in the Champions League. I only found one Bosman signing worthy: Moreno came from Liverpool. Other key signings where Kouamé as AML, Hugo Mallo as RB, Felipe Luiz from Lazio as CB to replace Milenkovic and Gagliardini to play DLP.

We kept playing a 4-3-3, though we tried some different approaches the first few matches of the season. In the UCL we got a very though group with PSG, Arsenal and Leverkusen. I was happy to finish 3rd in that group to be honest. In the Serie A we played well, but not spectacularly. But none of the other teams was very good either. Especially Juventus had a torrid first half of the season. We kept on doing what we where good at, which is not conceding any goals. In the end, we only let in 13 goals for the entire season, finishing on 85 points. Which was incredibly enough to win us the league!

With us finishing 3rd in the UCL, we got into the Europa League, where we had some easy matches against Anderlecht, Mainz, Dynamo Kiev and Galatasary to set up a final against Tottenham. We played to our strength and with one goals from my signing of the season, Kouamé, we did lift my first European silverware. In the Italian Cup, we also got to the final and beat Inter Milan in extra time to make it three cups in my second season in charge.

Now, on the the third season. I'm feeling like I'll be loosing some more players. Everyone wants to renew his contract and get 3-5 times the wages they're currently on and there's no way for Fiorentina to pay that. So it'll be looking at players on the transfer list and high potential youngsters my scouts keep recommending.

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Onwards to my second season with Fiorentina. Great to see @zlatanera also playing with La Viola. Exciting to see how s/he approaches things.

In the summer we had - of course - an overhaul at the club. A lot of loanees returning to parent clubs and interest from major (richer) clubs for my star players. In the end, Milenkovic moved to ManUtd for 73M euros and Veretout to Huddersfield of all places for 33-39M depending on some clauses. I had accepted a huge bid for Chiesa also, but he rejected Tottenham and opted to stay with me! This funded my buying spree to find enough players to fill all the gaps and have enough depth to deal with playing in the Champions League. I only found one Bosman signing worthy: Moreno came from Liverpool. Other key signings where Kouamé as AML, Hugo Mallo as RB, Felipe Luiz from Lazio as CB to replace Milenkovic and Gagliardini to play DLP.

We kept playing a 4-3-3, though we tried some different approaches the first few matches of the season. In the UCL we got a very though group with PSG, Arsenal and Leverkusen. I was happy to finish 3rd in that group to be honest. In the Serie A we played well, but not spectacularly. But none of the other teams was very good either. Especially Juventus had a torrid first half of the season. We kept on doing what we where good at, which is not conceding any goals. In the end, we only let in 13 goals for the entire season, finishing on 85 points. Which was incredibly enough to win us the league!

With us finishing 3rd in the UCL, we got into the Europa League, where we had some easy matches against Anderlecht, Mainz, Dynamo Kiev and Galatasary to set up a final against Tottenham. We played to our strength and with one goals from my signing of the season, Kouamé, we did lift my first European silverware. In the Italian Cup, we also got to the final and beat Inter Milan in extra time to make it three cups in my second season in charge.

Now, on the the third season. I'm feeling like I'll be loosing some more players. Everyone wants to renew his contract and get 3-5 times the wages they're currently on and there's no way for Fiorentina to pay that. So it'll be looking at players on the transfer list and high potential youngsters my scouts keep recommending.

Superb season Surprised to see Chiesa turning down Spurs.

I get it lot of players demanding stupid wages, I had a full back and he was on 13K and wanted 65K

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Onwards to my second season with Fiorentina. Great to see @zlatanera also playing with La Viola. Exciting to see how s/he approaches things.

In the summer we had - of course - an overhaul at the club. A lot of loanees returning to parent clubs and interest from major (richer) clubs for my star players. In the end, Milenkovic moved to ManUtd for 73M euros and Veretout to Huddersfield of all places for 33-39M depending on some clauses. I had accepted a huge bid for Chiesa also, but he rejected Tottenham and opted to stay with me! This funded my buying spree to find enough players to fill all the gaps and have enough depth to deal with playing in the Champions League. I only found one Bosman signing worthy: Moreno came from Liverpool. Other key signings where Kouamé as AML, Hugo Mallo as RB, Felipe Luiz from Lazio as CB to replace Milenkovic and Gagliardini to play DLP.

We kept playing a 4-3-3, though we tried some different approaches the first few matches of the season. In the UCL we got a very though group with PSG, Arsenal and Leverkusen. I was happy to finish 3rd in that group to be honest. In the Serie A we played well, but not spectacularly. But none of the other teams was very good either. Especially Juventus had a torrid first half of the season. We kept on doing what we where good at, which is not conceding any goals. In the end, we only let in 13 goals for the entire season, finishing on 85 points. Which was incredibly enough to win us the league!

With us finishing 3rd in the UCL, we got into the Europa League, where we had some easy matches against Anderlecht, Mainz, Dynamo Kiev and Galatasary to set up a final against Tottenham. We played to our strength and with one goals from my signing of the season, Kouamé, we did lift my first European silverware. In the Italian Cup, we also got to the final and beat Inter Milan in extra time to make it three cups in my second season in charge.

Now, on the the third season. I'm feeling like I'll be loosing some more players. Everyone wants to renew his contract and get 3-5 times the wages they're currently on and there's no way for Fiorentina to pay that. So it'll be looking at players on the transfer list and high potential youngsters my scouts keep recommending.

How did you manage to concede so few goals? Will you share your tactic?

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Kouame is such a good player, always causing me problems in my save as well.

One of the main reasons why I selected to buy him when scout reports told me he was available for do-able money. Sometimes just being very quick, agile and having okayish mental stats can be devestating.

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How did you manage to concede so few goals? Will you share your tactic?

Sure, for most of the season I played the 4-3-3 below. I tried a more possession heavy 4-2-3-1 at the start of the season, but the 4-3-3 suits my players, and myself, better. When I'm up against better opposition, or when I'm a goal in front, I did change the LB to WB/S, dropped the DL and went from shorter to default passing length, sometimes also combined with lowering the mentality to play more cautiously and on the counter.

There are no PI's used. And I can already tell you that my third season isn't going as well as my second: scoring goals is getting harder and harder.

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Sure, for most of the season I played the 4-3-3 below. I tried a more possession heavy 4-2-3-1 at the start of the season, but the 4-3-3 suits my players, and myself, better. When I'm up against better opposition, or when I'm a goal in front, I did change the LB to WB/S, dropped the DL and went from shorter to default passing length, sometimes also combined with lowering the mentality to play more cautiously and on the counter.

There are no PI's used. And I can already tell you that my third season isn't going as well as my second: scoring goals is getting harder and harder.

How's Otavio doing for you? (Porto one, right?)

Thought about getting him but Parma couldn't afford him. And non-EU status, of course. I liked his versatility.

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Thought about getting him but Parma couldn't afford him. And non-EU status, of course. I liked his versatility.﻿

Worse than I hoped, in this season he only managed 2 assists (no goals) in 14(10) games, rating 6.73. He's indeed the backup for both wing positions. I'll sell him at the end of season 3 to give youngsters some chances to impress.

I'm playing FM Touch on my laptop, since I don't have time for all the extras the full game has nowadays. Every season I get a message about non-EU places, but it seems the game doesn't force this rule.

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Worse than I hoped, in this season he only managed 2 assists (no goals) in 14(10) games, rating 6.73. He's indeed the backup for both wing positions. I'll sell him at the end of season 3 to give youngsters some chances to impress.

I'm playing FM Touch on my laptop, since I don't have time for all the extras the full game has nowadays. Every season I get a message about non-EU places, but it seems the game doesn't force this rule.

No wonder. I played FM Mobile before buying the full version and none of the rules are enforced, or some only loosely set. Always good to have that one versatile player that can play everywhere. I'm still looking for mine.

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@Raymond85 Despite my Fiorentina allegiances a Juve save is on my list purely because of him. He's got 20 in 21 games in my save. Immobile has 21 in 24 and Icardi 17 in 22, a real goalscorer's league this time out.

For once a "golden generation" that appears to live up to the name! 4x top prospects all with decent personalities and decent technicality even in the DC.

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@Raymond85 Despite my Fiorentina allegiances a Juve save is on my list purely because of him. He's got 20 in 21 games in my save. Immobile has 21 in 24 and Icardi 17 in 22, a real goalscorer's league this time out.

For once a "golden generation" that appears to live up to the name! 4x top prospects all with decent personalities and decent technicality even in the DC.

@zlatanera i think we're doing quite ok. Inside forward on the left, inspired by Rashidi's developing a player thread. I'm in January and i have an outstanding 100% win record that i'm expecting to end soon.

I was shocked by Man Utd's 84 mln € offer for Pjanic, and i just have to let him go. Planning on signing Exequiel Palacios, while waiting for Ramsey (and maybe Rabiot) to come in as free replacements, and Tonali is already in my first squad, might even step up to fill the void. Lots of cover with Khedira, Matuidi, Emre Can and Betancour.

Trying to make the squad as italian as possible over time, but everyone is so expensive when you're Juventus....... first time ever i manage them

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The main theme for this summer would be trying to move as many of the players not in my plans. Again, I forgot how much transfer budget I was given (will need to screenshot it from now on). Napoli rejected my offer to extend Inglese's loan, so my main target would be a new front man. Da Graca is not yet ready and En-Nesyri seems to play better at the moment from the wings. My main question from last season was wether to extend Pereira's loan or not. Decided to make an offer anyway and I will decide later depending if I can bring in a more permanent options in midfield. Razvan Marin is at Man Utd and transfer listed, tried to get him on loan instead of Pereira but he rejected my offer. Still trying to find that 3rd midfielder to balance out with Tonali and Stulac. Lots of ins and outs in the backroom as well, but the most notable change was the return of Gianfranco Zola, replacing Andrea Tarozzi as my Assistant Manager. It is a bit of a mixed feeling as I feel I trusted Tarozzi's input but I decided to change things up and see I can benefit from new ideas.

Transfers OUT

Lots of youngsters and overaged u20s players leaving. From the players I signed on a Bosman last season, I managed to shift out Kleber, Piazon, Monte, and Suarez easily but there was not much interest in Krajnc. So far so good. I wanted to keep da Cruz (because he can covers both wings), Nandez (combative midfield presence), and Gagliolo (last of the older team leader) but decided to let them all go with good prices (Only Nandez was below value £6.5m going for £5m). I actually gave Nandez a chance to impress me in the friendlies but both games he was 6.7 and below. One transfer that I had to think long and hard was Zeca. Burnley came in with an offer matching his values. I left the decision hanging for about a week then I tried to negotiate double his value. When they came back with a good offer, decided to accept it. Justified this by saying that he cost us some games last season through silly redcards and not being good enough defensively. Also, since he's not naturally left footed. Making a profit on him was a big plus (I would have sold him around his value, I think). So, will need a new left back to replace both Zeca and Gagliolo.

Loaned out all 3 of my young goalkeepers, so I will need to sign backup as replacements. Krajnc got a loan offer which I had to accept as there was no other interest in him. Had to loan Farinez as well as per my initial plan. I had planned to sign Fabio and Joel Pereira before I got a message about his eligibility this season (3rd non-EU player allowed to be register). I actually kept him around until the first game of Serie A, where he made his debut. Was hoping him leaving would open the slot for Ivonei, but no luck.

Transfers IN

Signed Fabio as backup and for mentoring purposes. Brazao is also touted as the next Fabio, so I don't think it could hurt. Decided to add Joel Pereira as a long term backup despite him being currently better than Brazao. Used most of my budget on Gomez to replace Inglese, only then once the transfer window reopens, Inglese was transfer listed and I made an offer to loan him to challenge Gomez for the starting spot (at 30% of his wages too). Gomez is now my highest earner at £65k p/w. Olaza came in as the new starting left back. I feel I made good business here selling Zeca for £20m and getting him for £2m+. His free kick ability put him to the top of my list (within my budget constraints, of course).

Now, for my midfield. Kiyine impressed me everytime he played against me. Decided to try make an offer and if it was within my budget, I would cancel my loan offer for Pereira. He was cheaper than expected! That there's even enough budget for me to try and buy Palacios from Juve. Can't believe I could get Palacios for almost half his value. So, that's my midfield sorted for now. Pepe (Portuguese DM) had been on trial for me, since I was missing lots of players due to the Olympic qualifiers. He impressed me enough in the friendlies that I signed him as backup. Marcos Paulo is signed to give me options from both wings (to replace da Cruz). Pavon was transfer listed at Barcelona and I attempted to sign him on loan, but Monaco came in and bought him for £40m.

Youth signings - Ivonei, was hoping I could loaned him out to a Spanish club, but unfortunately no club was interested. Agoume was signed because of roaming playmaker role, as that's the role I'm using for Stulac. Will be one for the future. Mahlonoka had an offer from Perugia for loan but decided to keep him for now, despite him not able to play due to non-EU limit. Same as Mamadou Dao (Ivorian regen). Schiappacasse, signed him because I need more potential Italian player coming up and he did well in some games last season, but he will go out on loan this time around.

Youth players of interest

Brazao will be a club legend if I have my way. Diakhate was disappointing last season, not consistent enough but I attributed that to the heavy rotation. Will look for him to push on this season. Botturi played 11 games last season and Hiekkanen played 17 games, so they are progressing in the team. Minelli played 12 games last season, but he is still finding his feet. Will be back up to Olaza this season. Casarini is now in the u20s, first team action might be too soon but will try to give him chances if possible. Smajlaj is a young centre back, who is developing nicely in the u20s. Definitely will be involving both Casarini and Smajlas to train with the first team.

Happy with the signing of Gomez, as he will add more aerial presence than Inglese. Excited by Kiyine's arrival as I liked the way he play against me. Olaza and Palacios are a bit of an unknown as to how they will adapt to Parma (Palacios didn't play much at Juve).

I was missing lots of players due to the Olympic qualfiers (Brazao, Coetzee, Bastoni, Tonali, Da Graca), that my starting eleven in the early months shaped my choices. Ribeiro kept his place and played the most minutes, Botturi was covering well for Coetzee and Bastoni. Only a red card allowed Coetzee to take his place alongside Ribeiro (Bastoni was injured after the Olmypics Qualifiers). Hiekkanen played really well early in the season, that his CA and PA had grown by half a star. Overall, happy with my dealings and my squad. Only wished was that I can cancel Lo Celso's loan.

START OF SEASON

JULY

Potential problem early on was I didn't know how to set my preseason training. I haven't really personalised the training schedule yet, it is something I'm looking to do in the near future. Complacency played a part as I drew at home in the first Europa League qualifier after conceding in injury time. Had planned to use a weaker team in the 2nd leg, but I didn't leave anything to chance. Gomez hasn't kick the ground running as well, without much contributions. Still adapting. He also missed a penalty in the 2nd leg.

Verdict: Harder than necessary.

AUGUST

On the other hand, Olaza has been performing really well, averaging close to 8 in ratings and have made a quick understanding with Xadas infront of him. Great signing so far. Broke Parma's biggest win record in the 2nd leg against Valeranga. Kiyine as had hoped and predicted, fitted seamlessly into my midfield. I liked the fact he's gliding across midfield and as opposed to Pereira, he's using that attributes to make the team play better. Delighted with his performance. When Xadas was out of form, he even filled in at LW position and still contributing as much as he did from central midfield. Best performance was my first win against Napoli, with Diakhate announcing himself as a real first team contender! Gomez scored his first league goal, coincided with an upturn in form from him after this.

Verdict: Finding good things about some of the players. Happy.

SEPTEMBER

In the Europa League, I was drawn alongside Monaco, Hoffenheim, and Heerenveen. With only 4 games this month, I was hoping the players would be able to regain their fitness conditions after a poor preparation fitness wise in preseason. It was showing in the results around Europa League game and especially goals I usually conceded from now on (Bologna equalised in the 92nd minute). We were poor against Hoffenheim away and began my first doubt wether we are ready for this. Against Cagliari, it was my 100th game for Parma.. and we, of course, lost it. Thanks, players Gomez got himself taken off the first penalty taker list after missing his 2nd penalty kick against SPAL.

Verdict: Forgettable month.

OCTOBER

The game against Heerenveen have the added pressure after our first lost, as we can't afford to lose to them, not with Monaco to play as well. It was closer than it should be after an own goal by Olaza and a late goal threatened the game. We managed to hold on for an important first win. Our 2nd big win of the season came against Inter away from home, with Diakhate again playing an important role in the win. This follows up his impressive hattrick against Napoli. He's developing into an important player, and all I had to do was change his role to Mezzala (Support) from Box to Box Midfielder. We played okay-ish against Monaco, with picking up a point was a fair result. Then the problems starting to arise, some of the first team players are now in the low 80% condition-wise. I had to rest Stulac, Olaza, Tonali, Xadas, and Gomez due to fitness concerns. Even Guga had to play because both Valery and Birindelli were exhausted/recoviring from injury. Considering the situation, was delighted with the draw against Juventus, but equally disappointed with the draw against Palermo. I did, however, used some youngsters against Palermo. Da Graca starting, Casarini and Agoume making their debuts off the bench. This turned out to be the starting points of me unable to juggle both Europa League and Serie A matches back to back with my strongest lineups. Starting to concede lots of late goals as well as fitness deteriorated.

Verdict: Can see the problem, not sure how to fix it?

NOVEMBER

At this point, Diakhate has cemented his place alongside Tonali and Stulac in midfield, with Kiyine rotating with him and Xadas. Another big win against Jose Mourinho's Roma, who was unbeaten I think at the top of the league at this stage. Olaza got his first goal, good thing I removed Gomez from the penalty duty. Kiyine has been impressive the past few games that he was starting at LW over Xadas at this point. Until he got an injury against Hoffenheim and is out of action for 6 weeks+. The lost against Monaco put us in a difficult position to qualify for the next round. The match against Empoli was heading for a draw, after getting a 2-0 lead, Empoli equalised. Step up, Da Graca from the bench, who scored his first two league goals for Parma. Lucky win.

Verdict: Start of poor form, poor month.

DECEMBER

The positive result against Hoffenheim at home last month gave us an outside chance to finished 2nd. Monaco need to beat Hoffenheim away and we need to beat Heerenveen to progress. 60+ minutes without any goal and playing poorly, I introduced Xadas, En-Nesyri, and Inglese in the 70th minutes. Changed the game completely. Saw a notification when Inglese scored that Monaco was winning 3-1! Yes! Things are looking up.. or is it?

Gomez lost his form this month, so Inglese started most games over him. Whilst Inglese was scoring goals, his contribution to how we played was less than Gomez. But still glad I have 2 good options, instead of just one. Marcos Paulo started his first game against Atlanta and scored his first 2 goals, he was coming back from injuries. The next game? He got injured again. Benevento game summed up our season so far. A bit lethargic, poor defensively, conceding goals late in the game. They equalised in the 89th minute for 2-2, the Captain Stulac, his first game after coming back from injury, scored his trademark free kick in the 92nd minute. Only for Benevento to score in the 95th minute for 3-3, after I went down to 10 men in the 93rd minute as En-Neyri got injured and had to leave the field.

Verdict: Inconsistent month, injuries starting to pile up. Will be glad for the winter break to regroup.

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW PLANS

Not sure if I need any signing to come into the team now, will need to look at who's available. I need to start thinking who to sign to replace Valery next season, as he signed a new contract with Southampton, and Bastoni, who I feel unlikely will be allowed back for the 4th season straight. So, new signings might be new right back and left footed centreback. Marcos Senesi is transfer listed for £2.6m but my non-EU quota is over the limit. I might still sign him and send him to a Spanish club on loan. Wish I have an Spanish affiliate already.

Signings wise - happy with Kiyine and Olaza in terms of performances and contributions. Gomez can do much better considering his fees and wages but he is contributing still.

Performance wise - Delighted with Diakhate, who has established himself in the first team now. The board is unhappy as I only had scored on free kick this season, despite adding Olaza to the team. I have 'Goals from Set Pieces' as one of the club philosophies. I guess I can look to find one more freekick specialist to add to the team as well.

Injury wise, Kiyine is coming back and he was sorely missed. I'm giving the whole first team a week rest this time around, compared to warm weather training last season. I have a Man Utd tie to look forward to, as well.

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

Will post the next update either monthly or at the end of my the season.

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An assist on his debut, the winner in the Italian Cup 1st Round against Udinese, but nothing for his other 3 starts and 3 sub appearances. WIll most likely be Serie C quality when he recovers from this, the sixth cruciate ligament injury of his career. Briefly considered retiring but is still there, earning his £6k a week and waiting patiently. I'm hoping his personality will eventually rub off on Vlahovic before the young Serb surpasses his influence in the squad.

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@quee quite a thorough and eloquent write up of your season so far. Progress looks good.

As for my save with Fiorentina, I'll be a bit shorter. After the great second season in charge, winning Serie A, Italian Cup and Europa League, it'd be very hard to get to the same level again in the 20/21 season. First order of business was to get rid of some deadwood, like Zekhini, Eysseric and Norgard. My main goals for this save are to become a force in Italy and the Champions League and becoming one of the richest clubs in the world. In order to do that, I want to earn a lot of money on player transfers and not spend large amounts on wages. So, this transfer window I had to let go of my major star after Barcelona came in for Federico Chiesa. But for 105M, I couldn't resist.

Transfers in were done in two categories: getting players from the transfer list to fill in starting places, and young prospects found by my scouts who might be the stars of the future (and from which I can make a load of money hopefully). So Malcom came in from Barcelona to replace Chiesa, Paredes to strenghen the midfield and Diakhaby to get even better defensively (especially when one of my first choice center backs was injured in season 2, we had a huge problem). Later in the season, during the winter transfer window, I had the option to buy Tonali from Torino, where he didn't play much. I've seen a lot of people raving about him in this topic, so I couldn't pass up on him. Also, Fiete Arp was available, so I got him in to already have a replacement for when some bigger club might come in for Simeone.

The results in the first half of the season were fine. We fought with Milan for 1st and 2nd place and held our own. In the Champions League we got out of a much easier group than the season before, but Manchester United were too good in the first knockout round (3-4 on aggregate). The amount of stars in their team was just unbelievable.

But after the winter break we had a big slump in form in the Serie A, winning only four (drawing 5) of 11 matches, while AC Milan were still going strong and got a 10 point gap on us. I couldn't find a way to steady the ship, so we had to settle for a 2nd place finish this season, finishing 7 points behind Milan, but also 7 points ahead of third placed Roma. And I'm still proud that we had the least amount of goals conceded.

By the way, we did win the Italian Cup again, for the third time in a row, beating AC Milan on penalties after a 1-1 game. For next season I want to sell some of the bigger names I bought before, like Otavia, Malcom and Moreno and see if I either reinvest in better, established players to get better at scoring goals (which I feel is our major issue). Or I put in some of the youth I acquired in these first 3 seasons and let them grow towards the stars they can become.

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At the half way point, still in contention for European places, only question at the end of the season would be which one. At this point, Diakhate is player of the season and Olaza is signing of the season. Gave the players a week rest and arrange no friendly. Hopefully we can recover some of our freshness. After a lengthy thought and being hassled by Tuchel 3 times, I've decided to reintegrate Lo Celso in to the team. So, will need to loan out some midfielders.

Side note: forgot to mention this in my previous update, but with Zeca leaving, I chose Brazao as my Vice Captain. Slowly building him into a club legend!

TRANSFER OUT

Mauri had been unhappy with Palacios arrival, and despite me giving him lots of minutes, nothing changed. Loaned him out, with an optional fee of £7.5m, which I don't think they will exercise the option. Loaned Pepe and Guga to give them more actions. Decided to loan out Dao as he's only going to become Home Grown in Nation, whereas Ivonei and Mahlonoka can be Home Grown in Club. Even Juve wanted to loan Dao as a squad player! Got Senesi in and tried to offer him to Spanish clubs, but no interest. Loaned him to Atlanta just to give him some actions until the end of the season.

TRANSFER IN

Whilst searching my options for a new right back and another free kick taker, I came across Hoever. Liverpool wouldn't sell him, so arranged a 18-months loan. If he does well in the matches I'm going to play him this season, I might not need a new right back to challenge Birindelli. My scouts highly recommended Peda to me (18 years old Polish central defender) and his stats are great for his age. Decided to sign him as Serie A recently have a track record of identifying and developing defenders from Eastern Europe. Only downside is he's not a left footer, hence me still signing Senesi for his Foreign Club release clause. Lupoli is an 18 years old Italian central defender, on a 18-months loan. If he developed well, I can sign him for £1m. Rafael Leao, to be honest, is a panic buy or a 'I have nobody to buy' transfer. When I saw he was available for that cheap, decided to give a gamble. Will be using him along the wings to utilise his speed, when he have opportunity to play that is. He will be back up for now.

In my early search for a new left footed centre back to replace Bastoni, I have arranged the transfer for Friedl from Bayern on a free in the summer. Low gamble and potential to loan out if I can get someone better. The Board gave a last minute cash injection, wished it was earlier, since if combined with Leao's transfer fess, I would have around £5m+ to play around with.

Got a weird question from the journalist, since Brazao is my number 1..

JANUARY

Decided to use my youngsters in the cup this season, with backup players filling in the rest. In the first game against Udinese, Birindelli, Smajlaj, Botturi, Minelli, Hiekkanen, Agoume, Casarini, Da Graca are all under 21, with Joel Pereira, Lo Celso, and Sprocati filling in the other spots (Marcos Paulo was injured). I used the same lineup against bottom place Perugia, due to fixture congestions coming up and some senior players still carrying injuries. Agoume shown he is ready for first team football and will be involved a lot more from now on. Of the new names, Smajlaj did well and Casarini was great playing in the left wing position (he's a left back). Against Lazio, Hoever came in for Birindelli, Peda for Smajlaj, Spalek for Sprocati, and En-Nesyri for Casarini (he was injured).

Game against Napoli was even at 1-1, before Milik scored his 2nd around the hour mark. Cutrone killed of the game in injury time during a counter attack when we were pushing forward for the equaliser. Bologna was the worse home defeat so far, I think. The fans and the Board were unhappy with the performance and results. Gomez ten matches without scoring is the first draught I have in 3 season..

At this rate, qualifcation for the Euro Cup is the target again. A bit too inconsistent each month.

Verdict: Too fresh, that some players are out of form and practice. Mistake.

FEBRUARY

Despite being in the semifinals, I decided to continue using most of youngsters in the starting eleven. In the first leg against Fiorentina, I played Joel Pereira; Hoever, Peda, Botturi, Minelli; Hiekkanen; Agoume, Kiyine; Marcos Paulo, Casarini; En-Nesyri. A great result getting a scored draw for the return leg at Ennio Tardini.

In the return leg, Palacios and Da Graca came in for Kiyine and Marcos Paulo. Joel Pereira saved a penalty from Vertout and went on to become man of the match with 8.6 rating. All of the defence played well until the end. So, that's my first final with Parma! Considering I'm using lots of youngsters, this is a great competition to be in this season. According to the Cup's history, the last time we made it to the final was in 2001/2002 season, when we lifted the trophy over Juventus. Parma had won the Italian Cup 3 out of the 5 finals they had been in, spanning over a successful 11 years period (1991-2002).

This month also see 7th-place Parma beat 8th-place Cagliari 7-0, with Gomez scoring 4 goals to break his 10 matches draught. Diakhate scored his first goal this calendar year and it was beauty. That win broke the record for the biggest win in Serie A.

In the Europa League, an unchanged starting eleven was named for the Man Utd first leg at home, carrying over the buzz of a 7-0 win. And Parma played really well in the first half, more than matching Man Utd, who were limited to corners and free kick. That is until in injury time when Olaza, who had been the most dangerous attacker, pulled off with an hamstring injury. In the 2nd half, we couldn't recover our attacking play due to Bastoni replacing Olaza at left back. Man Utd targeted him in the 2nd half but it was mainly an even contest, up until the 82nd minute. Veratti delivered a free kick to an unmarked Karamoh to head home. As mentioned previously, Kouame is one of the players who always troubled me, Karamoh was another when he was at Inter. Others like Icardi and Paloschi always scores against us, but they are not scary like Kouame and Karamoh.

Before the 2nd leg, I used my 2nd team for the draw against SPAL, a game we were lucky to get away with a point. At Old Trafford, Man Utd were attacking from the whistle, but we get the lead through a volley from outside the box from Xadas. We played well again in the first half, before Martial scored from a rebound around the hour mark. With another away goal can put us through to the next round, we went very attacking from that point. In the 89th minute, from a corner, Veratti chased down a long ball and crossed to the unmark Rashford to end our chance. The downbeat atmosphere carried over into the next match, another lost, this time to Chievo.

After the high of getting into the final, we wanted to get back on track with a win against Spalletti's league leaders, Inter. As mentioned above, the previous game to this was the 2nd leg semifinal against Fiorentina, where Joel Pereira got a 8.6 rating. I decided to start him against Inter, hoping his form continues. Alas! His previous heroics turns into a nightmare. Coetzee passed the ball back to him, Joel then decided to bring it out and pass it short to Ribeiro. Unexpectedly and not ready, Joel received the ball back from Ribeiro since he was pressured by Icardi. Joel tried to dribble the other way.. before getting tackle by Icardi, who put the ball into the empty net from 20 yards out. Even the 2nd goal conceded by Andre Gomez was a mistake by Joel, the ball hitting his leg before going in. Now, Joel will forever be the backup keeper. Despite the mistakes, Tonali and Stulac dominated the midfield but unable to change the course of the game. In 8 days, we will play Juventus in Turin.

Verdict: Mixed month. Youngsters showing the way by getting to the final!

THOUGHTS & REVIEWS FOR THE COMING MONTHS

With elimination from Europa League and the Italian Cup only have one final game left, we can focus on improving our league position. It will look like another fight to finish in the Europa League qualification spots. It is a tournament I would like to win, due to Parma's previous history in the competition. Hopefully, next season we can go further and challenge for the trophy. But, the league. Not an easy task as others around us are improving as well.

Poor results has seen us dropped to 9th, but still within those above us. It will be harder as we can't make any more mistakes. Ideally, I would like to avoid another early preseason. I have away games against.. Juventus, Roma, Milan, Lazio, Atlanta, and Genoa left. An even harder challenge as it is.

Players - Birindelli has been brilliant since the new year, keeping Valery out of the team. Diakhate lost his form, but Stulac and especially Tonali is coming into forms nicely in midfield. With Olaza out, Minelli has impressed. Bastoni couldn't regain his place, as everytime he plays, we lost and he played poorly. Even Botturi played better than him. Decided to keep Ribeiro and Coetzee together. Brazao actually played well, currently averaging 7 in ratings. (30 games, 38 conceded, 10 clean sheets). In his first 2 seasons, he only got 9 clean sheets both times. Still waiting for him to get that 3rd star on his CA.

Verdict: The most fun I have had in an FM in a while. Usually within 1-3 season, my saves would challenge for the titles and so on. Taking time as it should be like in real life is more rewarding and challenging. I can see this being a long term save, step by step.

Welcome any comments and feedbacks. Would be interesting to see other Parma saves as well.

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@quee can we get a screenshot of Diakhate? I'm managing Fiorentina on 19.1 so still have him at the club. He developed great for me on FM17 but I didn't use him last year, now I'm rotating him with Benassi. Is Minelli the Minelli from Fiorentina too?

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@quee can we get a screenshot of Diakhate? I'm managing Fiorentina on 19.1 so still have him at the club. He developed great for me on FM17 but I didn't use him last year, now I'm rotating him with Benassi. Is Minelli the Minelli from Fiorentina too?

As requested. I'm definitely keeping Diakhate long term.

Not Fiorentina's Minelli (not sure if they have one as well?). This Minelli was already at Parma at the start of the game, but was out on loan (he only played 4 games on loan, which hindered his development in the first season). His face is missing too from the megapack.